For starters, it's my 9th season here and in that time I have made a pre-emergent application for crabgrass on tees only in the years for 2013-2015. In 2008-2012 we weren't able to do this for various reasons but we added this as we tried to change our tee management practices. In those years ('08-'12) I had seen zero to minimal crabgrass breakthrough. In creating a plan and budget for 2016, I made a decision to forego the application with the thought that it wouldn't be any worse than '08-'12 and use those resources elsewhere. Hindsight is always 20/20 and now I know. The application was probably a waste of resources in most mild years but this is no mild year. More on that below...
It had been a near-historic year for crabgrass in Chicagoland with the perfect storm of favorable weather. An early spring warmup, followed by hot and dry temps that gave the existing turf a stressful start to summer. Next came the rains and the crabgrass took off. The soil temperatures have hovered around 80 degrees for a couple months and to put that in perspective the 2015 season never exceeded 75 degrees and that was short lived. Those are prime conditions for crabgrass, as well as bare soil like you have in par 3 tees or holes that irons are used frequently. I have seen/heard a number of conversations about the disease and weed pressure this year and the theme is that 2016 is a year to remember (or forget). I ran a poll on Twitter reaching out to colleagues in Chicagoland and the Midwest to gauge crabgrass pressure this year. Most agree that it's been a difficult year for crabgrass, even for those that applied a pre-emergent. As of the time of this post, nearly 85% of those who responded said they had moderate to heavy crabgrass infestations and some have personally told me that they have breakthrough despite applying a pre-emergent in the spring.
At this point it's best to talk about where we go from here and not dwell on the past. Crabgrass is tough and gets stronger as it ages. It's also difficult and tricky to get rid of where there is bentgrass seed/seedlings involved. We are looking at options for curative applications but at this point in the year it might be best for us to wait for first frost. Crabgrass will die at the first frost and we can begin doing some aggressive seeding and plan for a pre-emergent application for spring of 2017.
